Still Life Analysis is part of Chen’s on-site project during his residency at Bamboo Curtain Studio (Mar-May, 2014). The concept for the exhibition came from the artist’s ongoing curiosity in “garbage-like” objects. “I have always been interested in garbage,” Chen mentioned in his artist statement, “I always pay attention to objects left on the street- things once used but cast away at the end. What is being thrown out? And why is it left on the street?” He looks for trash on the street everyday, investigating, documenting, and reflecting on all sorts of “garbage still lives” left outside. Still Life Analysis is merely the tip of an iceberg from the accumulation of Chen’s documentation everyday.
Chen believes that these garbage still lives are readymade sculptures of societal development. Through documenting and presenting these objects, Chen attempts to organize the relationships between culture, land, and collective memories within Taiwanese society. In addition to the “ordinary” garbage we see everyday, the exhibition includes still lives that appear to be garbage but are not, as well as still lives that are even more extraneous and useless than garbage. The meaning of garbage is reexamined this way.
Chen believes that these garbage still lives are readymade sculptures of societal development. Through documenting and presenting these objects, Chen attempts to organize the relationships between culture, land, and collective memories within Taiwanese society. In addition to the “ordinary” garbage we see everyday, the exhibition includes still lives that appear to be garbage but are not, as well as still lives that are even more extraneous and useless than garbage. The meaning of garbage is reexamined this way.
《靜物研究》是我在竹圍⼯作室駐村期間所創作（2014年3-5⽉）,初衷來⾃對物件的好奇，對遺棄物的情有獨鍾，我在意被⼈人所遺棄在街上的物件，曾使⽤過後來卻不要的東西，要被丟掉卻被留在了街上的垃圾或非垃圾。 於是我每日上街漫遊尋找,⽤用攝影的⽅方式記錄、觀察與思考街上的各種「靜物」，由這些冰山一角來進行我所謂的「靜物研究」。
這些靜物可說是在文明發展下，所形塑成的現成雕塑物，藉由記錄與呈現這些隨地的垃圾物件，去試著觀看台灣的社會文化、土地、文明與集體記憶之間的關係。除了一般的垃圾，更拍攝看似垃圾但不是垃圾、不是垃圾卻⽐比垃圾還多餘的種種靜物，甚⾄至戲謔地以消費者／垃圾製造者的⾝身份去介入，重新置放所謂的垃圾雕塑並拍攝之，再搭配拾獲物／現成物，在展覽現場拼湊成一個交互辯證費解的滑稽敘事舞台。
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